In recent years, battery-operated, portable electronic devices, for example, notebook personal computers (PCs), have been widely used. This kind of electronic device has a function of setting a password as a security measure to prevent itself from being abused by a person other than a valid user.
If a password is set, the password needs to entered whenever an electronic device is used even in an environment where the risk of abuse is extremely low, for example in a house or an office, whereby the convenience of the electronic device is impaired. If a complex and difficult password is set, the password may also be forgotten. However, if a password is not set for this kind of electronic device which excels in portability and can be used in various environments in which a person is going out or is moving, etc., abuse will be permitted at a point in time when others (persons other than a valid user) are given a chance to use the device. In addition, also in the case where a simple password is set with priority given to convenience, it is highly likely that the password will be discovered by, for example, prying or guessing, and the device will be abused.